How exactly do cooled/heated seats work?

[D/\rK•650]

yeah, they're neat, but the fact they will just keep dumping heat from the hot side until you either power them off or they destroy themselves can cause some issues, especially if the heat management isn't up to par. from my looking, the hot side on most can get up to 80C/176F to 100C/212F, but some of the higher temp rated ones can get as hot as 200C/392F, hot enough to bake cookies. though it seems that it's much more likely for the wires supplying power will cause an issue through overcurrent rather than a fire hazard from the device directly

Has it been confirmed that they do in fact use peltier plates?

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[roket]

Has it been confirmed that they do in fact use peltier plates?

a lot of things i found online says they used to, but don't anymore

 

[roket]

Has it been confirmed that they do in fact use peltier plates?

just looked in the workshop manual, and yeah, up to 2023 model year, the Mustang did use peltier devices

Climate Controlled Seat Cooling Characteristics

• In cool mode, the blower motors can remove up to 8° C (14° F) from the ambient air temperature entering the system.
• The system control settings are based on the 3 indicators next to each climate controlled seat cool switch button on the touchscreen. The first setting is HIGH (3 indicators), the second setting is MED (2 indicators) and the third is LOW (1 indicator) then OFF (no indicators).
• When cooling, the SCME maintains a constant blower motor speed and a constant Thermo-Electric Device (TED) supply voltage (duty cycle is determined by the switch setting) in COOL mode.

they also took the health of the peltier devices very seriously

If the temperature of one of the blower motors rises above 110° C (229.8° F) in the heat mode or 65° C (148.9° F) in the cool mode for more than 4 seconds, the SCME records an overtemperature DTC , removes voltage from the Thermo-Electric Devices (TEDs) (part of the blower motor assembly) and goes into recovery mode (blower only) for 30 seconds to cool down the Thermo-Electric Devices (TEDs). The same occurs if a temperature difference of 60° C (108° F) or greater is detected between the backrest and cushion blower motors on either front seat. The SCME continues to monitor the Thermo-Electric Devices (TEDs) while in recovery mode. If the temperature of the Thermo-Electric Devices (TEDs) does not drop to 105° C (220.8° F) in the heat mode or 60° C (139.9° F) in the cool mode after 30 seconds, the system continues to cool the Thermo-Electric Devices (TEDs) in recovery mode for up to 5 minutes. If the Thermo-Electric Devices (TEDs) cool down after 30 seconds, but before 5 minutes (checked at 4 second intervals), the system is operating normally. An overtemperature DTC is still recorded even if the system recovers and is operating normally. This is more likely to occur during extreme cabin temperatures with significant seat back sun load. If the system does not recover within 30 seconds in heat mode or within 5 minutes in cool mode, the SCME disables that seat (fault mode) and remains off until that feature is reactivated by the customer. Also, if the SCME detects a temperature differential fault twice during the same ignition cycle, the SCME disables the seat. When a fault causes a shutdown, the climate controlled seat indicators turn off and that seat is not operational until the next ignition cycle.

 

[TVMADoc]

I don't think the air is ducted in. There was a thread here that addressed this but I don't remember the process. I think there is some kind of device under the seats but I don't remember how they work. It just works and I like it is what counts to me. If you look under the seats, there isn't any ducting. Disclaimer: I've been wrong before.....believe it or not......

I haven't crawled around under the seats of my son's Mustang, but I have done work under his old Avalon. That car definitely had ducts to bring airconditioned air into the seats. I suspect that the Mustang does as well.

I would NOT recommend using the heated seat option ,however. We bought the Avalon from my Dad who used the heated seats. It's a 2018 that we bought with only 40k miles and the leather in the seats was TRASHED by that system. In comparison, my 2011 M3 is pushing 70k miles and has never had the heated seats activated and the seats are almost like new.

NEVER use heated seats unless you plan to replace the leather in short order. Cooled seats don't cause problems.

 

[Gregs24]

I haven't crawled around under the seats of my son's Mustang, but I have done work under his old Avalon. That car definitely had ducts to bring airconditioned air into the seats. I suspect that the Mustang does as well.

I would NOT recommend using the heated seat option ,however. We bought the Avalon from my Dad who used the heated seats. It's a 2018 that we bought with only 40k miles and the leather in the seats was TRASHED by that system. In comparison, my 2011 M3 is pushing 70k miles and has never had the heated seats activated and the seats are almost like new.

NEVER use heated seats unless you plan to replace the leather in short order. Cooled seats don't cause problems.

Used the heated seats on many cars with leather seats with no problems at all over many years and lots of miles

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